WTF? Where is the lie and what anti-data are you even talking about?

That is a lie and you know it. 

Stop being anti-data like Trump supporters.

There is more to that than "NATO good." NATO being necessary to defend a free Europe doesn't imply that the US should pay for it.

If the Ukraine war demonstrates anything it's that Europe needs to take responsibility for its own defense. Decades of relying on Uncle Sugar has left it unprepared to deal with a threat like Putin—not just militarily but politically and socially.

The US would be essential in a shooting war, but we don't face most of the consequences of one. The reprisals don't fall on our cities, we don't shiver thru a winter with no heat, the refugees don't stream across our borders, and we don't have to live with a belligerent neighbor after.

I don't think the US funding NATO thru the 20th century was a mistake; it lead to a mostly-free, peaceful, and prosperous Europe after a disastrous half-century of war. European dependency on the US in the 21st century is now pretty clearly a mistake, and one that Europe needs to fix.

It’s only because of NATO membership that the Baltic States haven’t been smashed by the Russian military and annexed by Russia so thank God for that.....

The importance of peace in Europe is once again being demonstrated. I would say the Russian invasion of Ukraine has underscored the need for NATO.

Why can't apparently intelligent folks at least make an effort to understand complex situations?
I think instead, they just savor the argument.

Upsides and downsides to NATO but when Trump was saying we should leave, a lot of people hadn't thought about it in years and were hard pressed to immediately specify why he was wrong. Myself included. 

 NATO was probably the weakest it had been in years but thanks to Russia that has all changed.

No.  Not all.   Your political elites along with significant popular support are in the processing of hammering the poor on fixed income and low-income workers. 

1.  Your dual mandate monetary policy makes high inflation and financial instability more likely than less likely.  It is exacerbated by a naïve belief in economic growth as opposed to higher per capita wealth outcomes.  If it was up to me, the employment mandate would be dropped and the inflation target reduced to 1% and ultimately to 0%.  

2.  The US cheap energy entitlement and the lowest excise taxes on gasoline and diesel among the rich western democracies make the US economy more vulnerable to oil price shocks.

3.  Clearly little thought went into providing NATO membership to former Warsaw Pact countries and the threat to make Ukraine a member of NATO.  As long as Dark Ages morality and an old Testament warrior attitude prevails over US foreign policy, more mistakes will be made.  The most vulnerable will suffer, as always.  

So having said all of that, you are ok with the inflationary affects and the resulting significantly lower standard of living for those making $100 k or less per year ?

Biden has given us a recession.  Demand is falling, hence falling prices,

I don't understand economics very well but I'm pretty sure it has something to do with child sex-trafficking.

do tell

Exactly how did Biden give us the recession?

Biden has given us a recession.  Demand is falling, hence falling prices,

Gas prices this area are now 30-40 cents/gallon higher than winter prices. What happened to your supercrisis, Kurt?

 kurtster wrote:
Well, I slowed down 10 km/h on average when I drive highways with the gas-guzzling 4X4 off-road SUV.  To about 101-102 km/hr if you are curious. Otherwise, as an investor who specializes in overseas oil & gas explorers & producers, it is working out really well kurtster.   Thank you for asking. Everybody in this sector was really down on Joe but I knew different.  I knew that he was just as attached to the infamous US cheap energy entitlement as Donald J. Trump and friends when he took office.  I knew that Joe would attempt to save the world from climate disruption by attacking and demonizing supply and distribution.   I knew Joe would avoid directly addressing consumption because that would be 'un-American'.   Joe knows that American voters are not strong on math, data and the sciences in general and care for US world class experts about as much as they care for the brown-skinned victims of US terrorism.    Joe knows that transparency and accountability are not in great demand.  I knew that Joe was a Man of Freedom.  I knew that he would proudly and with great determination maintain the US federal government excise taxes on gasoline and diesel  fuel at the same level they were at in nominal terms in the 1990s.   I knew Joe was a big backer of the ever popular US obesity-sitting-dementia policies.   To some extent, I sympathize.  Given the widespread availability of fabulous and oh so powerful modern opioid drugs, why make an effort to 'live right'?  Opioids to the rescue!